China to push for water conservation

BEIJING, May 21 — China will accelerate the construction of water conservation projectsaccording to an executive meeting of the State Council chaired by Premier Li Keqiang onWednesday

The meeting urged faster construction of water transfer, reservoir and irrigation schemesespecially in central and western regions suffering water shortages. The move is toimprove water use and attract investment, to guarantee water security, help agricultureand alleviate poverty

The meeting decided that 172 water conservation projects will be launched before 2020,increasing water supply by 80 billion cubic meters every year

The projects will also save 26 billion cubic meters of water in agricultural production and expand irrigation areas of over 78 million mu (5.2 million hectares